diff --git a/init.d/Makefile b/init.d/Makefile
index 85925b15..0bd3651b 100644
--- a/init.d/Makefile
+++ b/init.d/Makefile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ SRCS-FreeBSD=	hostid.in moused.in newsyslog.in pf.in rarpd.in rc-enabled.in \
 SRCS-FreeBSD+=	adjkerntz.in devd.in dumpon.in encswap.in ipfw.in \
 		mixer.in nscd.in powerd.in syscons.in
 
-SRCS-Linux=	devfs.in dmesg.in hwclock.in consolefont.in keymaps.in \
+SRCS-Linux=	binfmt.in devfs.in dmesg.in hwclock.in consolefont.in keymaps.in \
 		killprocs.in modules.in mount-ro.in mtab.in numlock.in \
 		procfs.in sysfs.in termencoding.in tmpfiles.dev.in
 
diff --git a/init.d/binfmt.in b/init.d/binfmt.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..651b1315
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init.d/binfmt.in
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!@SBINDIR@/openrc-run
+# Copyright 2015 William Hubbs <w.d.hubbs@gmail.com>
+# Released under the 2-clause BSD license.
+
+description="Register misc binary format handlers"
+
+depend()
+{
+	after procfs
+	use modules devfs
+	keyword -openvz -prefix -vserver -lxc
+}
+
+start()
+{
+	ebegin "Loading custom binary format handlers"
+	"$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/sh/binfmt.sh
+	eend $?
+return 0
+}
diff --git a/init.d/procfs.in b/init.d/procfs.in
index dfe58cb6..167a1aa3 100644
--- a/init.d/procfs.in
+++ b/init.d/procfs.in
@@ -15,24 +15,13 @@ start()
 {
 	# Setup Kernel Support for miscellaneous Binary Formats
 	if [ -d /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc -a ! -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ]; then
+		modprobe -q binfmt-misc
 		if grep -qs binfmt_misc /proc/filesystems; then
 			ebegin "Mounting misc binary format filesystem"
 			mount -t binfmt_misc -o nodev,noexec,nosuid \
 				binfmt_misc /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
-			if eend $? ; then
-				local fmts
-				ebegin "Loading custom binary format handlers"
-				fmts=$(grep -hsv -e '^[#;]' -e '^[[:space:]]*$' \
-					/run/binfmt.d/*.conf \
-					/etc/binfmt.d/*.conf \
-					""/usr/lib/binfmt.d/*.conf)
-				if [ -n "${fmts}" ]; then
-					echo "${fmts}" > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
-				fi
 				eend $?
-			fi
 		fi
 	fi
-
 	return 0
 }
diff --git a/runlevels/Makefile b/runlevels/Makefile
index 25e3e1ab..682d6e15 100644
--- a/runlevels/Makefile
+++ b/runlevels/Makefile
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ BOOT-FreeBSD+=	hostid newsyslog savecore syslogd
 # FreeBSD specific stuff
 BOOT-FreeBSD+=	adjkerntz dumpon syscons
 
-BOOT-Linux+=	hwclock keymaps modules mtab procfs termencoding tmpfiles.setup
+BOOT-Linux+=	binfmt hwclock keymaps modules mtab procfs termencoding \
+	tmpfiles.setup
 SHUTDOWN-Linux=	killprocs mount-ro
 SYSINIT-Linux=	devfs dmesg sysfs tmpfiles.dev
 
diff --git a/sh/.gitignore b/sh/.gitignore
index d5cb215a..c83b730b 100644
--- a/sh/.gitignore
+++ b/sh/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ init-early.sh
 rc-cgroup.sh
 tmpfiles.sh
 migrate-to-run.sh
+binfmt.sh
diff --git a/sh/Makefile b/sh/Makefile
index c1953f31..8f742dc8 100644
--- a/sh/Makefile
+++ b/sh/Makefile
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ include ${MK}/os.mk
 SRCS-FreeBSD=
 BIN-FreeBSD=
 
-SRCS-Linux=	cgroup-release-agent.sh.in init-early.sh.in migrate-to-run.sh.in \
-	rc-cgroup.sh.in
-BIN-Linux=	cgroup-release-agent.sh init-early.sh migrate-to-run.sh \
+SRCS-Linux=	binfmt.sh.in cgroup-release-agent.sh.in init-early.sh.in \
+	migrate-to-run.sh.in rc-cgroup.sh.in
+BIN-Linux=	binfmt.sh cgroup-release-agent.sh init-early.sh migrate-to-run.sh \
 	rc-cgroup.sh
 
 SRCS-NetBSD=
diff --git a/sh/binfmt.sh.in b/sh/binfmt.sh.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b636bac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sh/binfmt.sh.in
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!@SHELL@
+# This is a reimplementation of the systemd binfmt.d code to register
+# misc binary formats with the kernel.
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2015 William Hubbs <w.d.hubbs@gmail.com>
+# Released under the 2-clause BSD license.
+#
+# See the binfmt.d manpage as well:
+# http://0pointer.de/public/systemd-man/binfmt.d.html
+# This script should match the manpage as of 2015/03/31
+#
+
+apply_file() {
+	[ $# -lt 1 ] && return 0
+	FILE="$1"
+	LINENUM=0
+
+	### FILE FORMAT ###
+	# See https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/binfmt_misc.txt
+	while read line; do
+		LINENUM=$(( LINENUM+1 ))
+		case $line in
+			\#*) continue ;;
+			\;*) continue ;;
+		esac
+
+		echo "${line}" > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
+		rc=$?
+		if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+			printf "binfmt: invalid entry on line %d of \`%s'\n" \
+				"$LINENUM" "$FILE" >&2
+			error=1
+		fi
+	done <$FILE
+	return $rc
+}
+
+[ -e /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register ] || exit 0
+error=0
+if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
+	while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+		apply_file "$1"
+		shift
+	done
+else
+	# The hardcoding of these paths is intentional; we are following the
+	# systemd spec.
+	binfmt_dirs='/usr/lib/binfmt.d/ /run/binfmt.d/ /etc/binfmt.d/'
+	binfmt_basenames=''
+	binfmt_d=''
+
+	# Build a list of sorted unique basenames
+	# directories declared later in the binfmt_d list will override earlier
+	# directories, on a per file basename basis.
+	# `/run/binfmt.d/foo.conf' supersedes `/usr/lib/binfmt.d/foo.conf'.
+	# `/run/binfmt.d/foo.conf' will always be read after `/etc/binfmt.d/bar.conf'
+	for d in ${binfmt_dirs} ; do
+		[ -d $d ] && for f in ${d}/*.conf ; do
+			case "${f##*/}" in
+				systemd.conf|systemd-*.conf) continue;;
+			esac
+			[ -e $f ] && binfmt_basenames="${binfmt_basenames}\n${f##*/}"
+		done # for f in ${d}
+	done # for d in ${binfmt_dirs}
+	binfmt_basenames="$(printf "${binfmt_basenames}\n" | sort -u )"
+
+	for b in $binfmt_basenames ; do
+		real_f=''
+		for d in $binfmt_dirs ; do
+			f=${d}/${b}
+			[ -e "${f}" ] && real_f=$f
+		done
+		[ -e "${real_f}" ] && binfmt_d="${binfmt_d} ${real_f}"
+	done
+
+	# loop through the gathered fragments, sorted globally by filename.
+	# `/run/binfmt.d/foo.conf' will always be read after `/etc/binfmt.d/bar.conf'
+	for FILE in $binfmt_d ; do
+		apply_file "$FILE"
+	done
+fi
+
+exit $error
+
+# vim: set ts=2 sw=2 sts=2 noet ft=sh: